Denver Mayor Michael Hancock confronts a dilemma akin to choosing between the rocky shoals of Scylla and the whirlpool of Charybdis.

In January 2011, recognizing the decade-long erosion of revenues and concomitant increases in expenses in Denver’s operating budget, then-Mayor Bill Vidal convened a 15-member finance task force. Vidal asked the group to evaluate structural inconsistencies and recommend systemic changes to address long-term solutions.

Today, the 2013 budget deficit totals more than $90 million: a $50 million shortfall, a $14 million human services challenge, and a $30 million structural gap.

After accepting the task force’s report in January, Hancock organized a listening tour, anticipating a decision by April 18. Public outreach included meeting with 200 city employees, 250 residents and considering some 500 responses to a rather simplistic online survey (www.deliveringdenversfuture.org).

Fortunately, the decision date has been postponed. Hopefully the mayor and his team will seek input from those who build, own or lease commercial properties, the places where people work, fabricate, provide services or sell the products that keep our economy moving.

Remedies to address the structural deficit include:

• Eliminate free trash pick-up and recycling for residential property (to save up to $24 million a year);

• Add 3 to 5 property tax mills to support the Denver Public Library system ($30 million).

It doesn’t take a pricey consultant to do the math: A dedicated mill or special library district addresses the structural deficit. Permanently de-Brucing sales and property tax precludes asking voters for permission to keep excess revenue. Eliminating the annual refund from property tax contributes an additional $67 million.

Voila! Problem solved without angering homeowners or city employees.

But not so fast. Details of the symbiotic relationship between TABOR and the 1982 statewide Gallagher Amendment must be considered. Gallagher mandates a ratio of 55 percent commercial property tax to 45 percent residential. When TABOR passed in 1992, unintended consequences erupted. TABOR sets strict limits on how much revenue taxing authorities can keep without voter approval. Revenue in excess of inflation plus population growth must be refunded. Because Denver has not de-Bruced property tax, 6.2 mills per year are refunded to every taxpayer.

Without statewide voter-approved changes to Gallagher, residential taxes could approach zero, with commercial property bearing the full load. In Denver, the current ratio of residential to commercial property tax is 7.6 percent to 29 percent (3.64 times higher).

Denver’s property taxes are the fourth-lowest in the region, nearly 25 percent below most neighboring jurisdictions. Denver has a preponderance of the region’s commercial/industrial real estate. Though land and development costs are higher, mature infrastructure, greater density, mixed-use development and the ongoing revitalization of well-located, accessible commercial, industrial and residential districts contribute to Denver’s economic strength.

If Denver property owners agree to permanently de-Bruce property taxes and eliminate the refund of TABOR surpluses, a homeowner with a $224,000 house will pay $120 more taxes annually. For a commercial property valued at the same amount, the annual increase will be $436.80. If voters approve a dedicated mill levy or special district for the library, commercial property will also pay a disproportionate share.

Jobs-jobs-jobs is the mantra for every local, state and national politician. Mayor Hancock is no different. He touts confidence in his economic development plan (JumpStart 2012) and commitment to streamline development (Develop Denver).

No eco-devo initiative or regulatory efficiency will mitigate the damage of adding to the imbalance in the state’s arcane tax policy. Decisionmakers must measure consequences of higher property taxes on the competitiveness of downtown and emerging urban mixed-use districts.

Many were not surprised by the prompt verdict Monday in the sexual-assault case in Denver involving Taylor Swift. A jury of six women and two men concluded within hours that a Denver radio host had groped Swift _ grabbed her butt beneath her skirt during a photo shoot, as his wife stood on the other side of Swift.

Touch not that statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville. Let it stand, but around it place plaques telling the curious that the man was a traitor to his country who went to war so white people could continue to own black people.